Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship. Board-certified music therapists (MT-BCs) work in medical, psychiatric, and educational settings to help clients improve psychological and physiological functioning.
The degree program at Nazareth College, approved by the American Music Therapy Association, offers several advantages, including the performance opportunities of other music majors:
Very few programs in the country provide these expansive opportunities.
You will gain clinical practice skills through musical proficiency, research, and direct clinical experience, studying the impact of melody, harmony, and rhythm on children and adults with physical, communication, emotional, and cognitive disabilities.
Aside from your primary instrument, you will study piano, guitar, and percussion and learn to perform, improvise, and compose music for therapy.
Work with people with special needs in Ecuador, do social outreach through music in South Africa, Uganda, and more.
Completing the curriculum and clinical training, including the 6-month internship in the "ninth semester," makes you eligible to sit for the national certification examination in music therapy administered by the Certification Board of Music Therapists. Successfully completing the exam provides you the board certification credential (MT-BC).
With the MT-BC, you can work in a variety of clinical settings or you can pursue graduate school for advanced practice in music therapy or for a related field such as social work, special education, or neuroscience.
See answers to frequently asked questions.
Auditions are required for this major. View audition details and register.
Jessica Jarvis ‘11
A six-month internship at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas, led to a full-time job there for Jessica Jarvis (left) as one of three board-certified music therapists. In a Texas Medical Center story, Jarvis said, "To see the joy in a mom’s eyes when her child gets up and walks for the first time because it’s easier with music as a stimulation and motivation… I see music therapy making a real difference in my patients." Jarvis is also working on a doctorate in rehabilitation sciences, to advance research in the field.